This is funny, maybe. I had no idea that Nice was a beach town. I thought it was another ancient, walled city in France. It’s not. It’s sort of like Monaco. Fancy. Beachy. Blingy. We fit right in.

Actually, we didn’t do a lot in Nice. We arrived in the afternoon and took a stroll on the beach. Tried to find an open restaurant for an early dinner, to no avail. But then Paul’s dream came true when we ordered room service. Sadly, I was just beat. Beat, I say. I took about two bites of my 30 euro burger and called it quits. It was a lame way to end a nice trip but a girl like me needs to sleep at night and after 6 months of not doing that, I was reaching my limit. Even in France. Next time I’ll be more well rested. Next stop, home!

There was a beautiful little market in the town where we stayed. Open only on Saturdays we set out on a particularly wet one…but had a great time shopping, ducking for cover and of course doing it all with croissants in hand.

Out and about for the second time with Barbra and crew we visited Arles, the town from where Van Gough painted some of his most famous artwork: Starry Night, Sunflowers and more.

I thought it was only okay.

Possibly tired out from traveling, more likely not sleeping for several months, I just couldn’t find a groove in this place. There was a giant outdoor arena, bearing a close resemblance to Rome’s own Colosseum. Only this one is the scene of bull fights, which continue to this day. We checked out the space, not the bull fights.

There were pastries, coffees and some souvenirs but it was hot. Phoebe and Estelle were doing fine but the whole thing seemed like a lot of effort for little enjoyment. Discouraged, I suggested we head back to the car and maybe make one more stop on the way.

I’m so glad we did. After a refreshing cone of gelato (really, it was Italian gelato) Phoebe discovered carousels. She may never be the same.

As it turns out, my French is worse than my Italian which led to a misunderstanding at the ticket booth. I bought double the amount we needed so Phoebe and I stayed on for a second time. Then Phoebe misunderstood. Apparently we’d just keep riding this magical machine all day long? No. It was time for two naps plus the adults wanted to get home. She protested valiently but her next ride came via car seat where we started a new game called Good Bye. As we rolled away through the streets of Arles, we said good bye to everything we could see. There’s something particularly sweet about a little voice from the backseat saying, “Good bye trees. Good bye bench. See you next time!”